Taste of Cayman2002 lots of fun for all last weekend!
Miss Cayman2002, Shannon McLean with Taste of Cayman participants Photo byPatrick Gorham
The Cayman Islands Tourism Association RestaurantCommittee's (CITA) 15th annual Weekend Bash was one of the mostsuccessful in the event's history, with thousands of dollars raisedto benefit the special needs students at the Lighthouse School,the CITA Education and Scholarship Fund, the Pines RetirementHome, and the Association's various other designated charities.
Beginning with the Taste of Cayman on Saturday,June 29th, over 30 of Cayman's most popular restaurants delightedthe crowds with mouth-watering items from their menus. Visitorsexpressed delight in being able to experience the many varietiesand excellent quality of food.
This year the public was asked to gradethe restaurants on best-decorated booth and best cuisine. In thePeople's Choice Award for Best Decorated booth in the restaurantcategory, the combined Cimboco & Chicken! Chicken! booth featuringhand painted David Bridgeman larger than life 30 feet murals tookfirst place.
Kaibo Restaurant was awarded second placefor best-decorated booth with their New Orleans Mardi Gras themeand DJ's Cantina Mexican style café was voted third forbest booth. Casa Havana of the Westin with their Roman theme completewith staff dressed in togas and coronas on their heads won firstplace for the best decorated booth in the hotel category, followedby the Pirate themed Peninsula Restaurant at the Marriott boothin second place and Rum Point Restaurant operated by Hyatt inthird place with their Caribbean theme.
The public also voted on best cuisine. Thecombined booth of Cimboco and Chicken! Chicken! won first placein the Tasters' Choice Award serving Chicken! Chicken!'s signaturewood roasted chicken and cornbread and Cimboco's Classic Caesarsalad and Simply Chocolate Upside-Down cake. Outback Steakhousewas awarded second place for their combination ribs on the Barbie,centre cut sirloin and Kookaburra wings and DJ's Cantina tookthird place serving chimachangas, baked burritos and salbutes.
Prize winnersat the Taste of Cayman 2002 event
An award was presented for Best Specialexhibit to the Lighthouse School.
The entertainment for adults included liveperformances by Mango Jam and Ratskyn and a comedy performanceby Atomic Improv from Canada and Carnival type games of chance.Tropicana Play Paradise, the dedicated children's area sponsoredby Foster's Food Fair, was a delight to children who enjoyed theBouncy Castles, Craft Making, Face Painting, Balloon Charactermaking, Snow Cones, Cotton Candy and Popcorn. Children competedin the Tropicana Twist Competition to win the title of Best TwistDancer and two lucky children tied for first place winning a brandnew bike each.
Chili & Cayman Cookoffs
The Chili and Cayman Cookoffs were heldon Monday, July 1st, with teams and individuals competing to seewho could whip up the best chili and Caymanian dishes. The NakedFish won the title for Best Chili in the Chili Cookoff and wereawarded four round trip tickets to Reno, Nevada to compete inthe International Chili Society's World Championship Chili Cookoffthis October.
Second place went to the Rock Harders teamof Hard Rock Café and Chili Dawn till Dusk took home thirdplace. Best Decorated Booth went to the FDNY chili team and theLos Cinco Amigos team was awarded team with the Best Costume.
Having agood time at Taste of Cayman Photos by Patrick Gorham
The Cayman Cook-off featured the best ofCaymanian dishes using turtle, conch, beef or pork as the mainingredient with prizes for both Traditional and Contemporary dishesand Best Turtle and Best Overall Caymanian dish. Brenda Timothywalked away with US$650.00 and a trip to the Sister Islands asthe overall winner for the competition as well as first placefor Best Traditional Dish and Best Turtle Dish.
First prize for the Best Contemporary Dishand Third Prize in the Traditional Category went to Lorenzo Loweof the Cracked Conch Restaurant. Eddie Cid Lantigua of BreadfruitTree Restaurant was awarded second place in both the Traditionaland Contemporary categories. Third place in the Contemporary Categorywent to Larry Chomyn.
Random games and prizes throughout the day and music by localband Mojo Pin kept the crowd entertained.
Warming up the crowd for the raffle draw,Graham Rankin of Cayman Fire Power pulled off one of the bestfireworks displays seen at Taste of Cayman by lighting up thesky with bright colours and sparkles.
The event that everyone had been anxiouslyanticipating finally arrived, with the drawing for the Grand Prizethe 2002 Red Porsche Boxster and the nine vacation prizes.
Chairperson of The Taste of Cayman OrganisingCommittee, Mike Flowers, said that he was again proud of the resultsfor Taste of Cayman as now they can start putting away funds towardsthe purchase of the much needed special needs bus for the LighthouseSchool. He went on to thank the major sponsors, Cayman Airways,Foster's Food Fair, Cayman Turtle Farm, Cayman Islands FarmersMarket and Vibe 98.9FM for their contributions and support ofthe event as well as the restaurants that donated their time andresources to make the event a reality.
Mr. Flowers also expressed his heartfeltthanks to all CITA members and all volunteers who supported theevent.
List of Prize winnersat the Taste of Cayman 2002
Prize Winner Ticket#
2002 Red Porsche Boxster StacyHardman 2434
Trip for two to Little Cayman with air by Island Air
and accommodation by Pirates Point Resort DanBazoff 2052
Cayman Aggressor IV Trip LindaMcGillivary 4611
Trip for two to Jamaica from Air Jamaica GeraldRosenberger 3994
Trip for two to Cayman Brac from Cayman Airways DomingoG. Escobar 2073
First Class Trip for two to any US Airways US destination CarolBrown 4538
Atlantis Adventures 1000ft Deep Sea Exploration for two Barb Pedersen4258
Grand Cayman All-Inclusive Vacation for two from Westin Ruth McGee 3539
Trip to London for two from British Airways JohnArendt 0907
Trip for two to Tampa from Cayman Airways ChrisBodden 4747